Figure 19

Siloam inscription

The Siloam inscription records the construction of Hezekiah’s tunnel in the 8th cent. BC and demonstrates one of the oldest examples of the ancient Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. In the nineteenth century, it was damaged when thieves cut it from the tunnel wall, but it was recovered and repaired. Reproduction with the original located in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum (New Building 3rd Floor - Gallery 1).

For Further Study

• Albright, William F. “Palestinian Inscriptions: The Siloam Inscription.” The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures. Edited by James B. Pritchard, (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2010), 290.
• Altman, R. I. “Some Notes on Inscriptional Genres and the Siloam Tunnel Inscription.” Antiguo Oriente 5 (2007): 35-88.